i am made of ink right now it feels like. that is so goth i am such an ass. i am fine thank you.

How did you and the other band members meet ?

cory and i used to be in other bands together. lauren used to work at the studio that i used to run and
yvonne and i were friends from seeing each other at shows.

Iíve read that the songs were written out of things that happened either to you or to other band members, is
it true for all the songs you've written so far ?

all of the songs are about things that have happened to people we know, friends,
members of our families or ourselves. sometimes we write parallel songs about things that have happened to real people we
have read about in nonfiction or on the news with things that have happen to us.

What about the writing process, what kind of experience was it ?

i will again feel like a goth ass for saying this but because the songs are about subjects that have a direct
and negative effect on our own lives or on the lives of someone we care about it is usually
really grueling, depressing and smashed up feeling.

were you thinking "this song will be about this" or did the subjects came in a less direct, more
subconscious way ?

most of the time we know what the song will be about before we get way into to finishing it. i think it is
important for the kind of songs that we do to be very specific because of that we try to have
the focus of what it sounds like and what is about be supportive of each other.

how does it feel, when you're touring, to sing these songs every night ? Do they lose the "background"
aspect or is it magnified ?

due to exhaustion, they become magnified. which is good (i hope)

musically, xiu xiu's music is in the same time tight and very "free," did you think about the sound you wanted
before starting playing or did it come naturally ?

i love drum machines and dance music but i also love insane falling apart greasy wooden implosions. we did
think about it before we started in so far as we knew what influences were meaningful to us.

The Joy Division cover is brilliant, why did you choose Ceremony ?

i am obsessed with new order and joy division and as the song was created at the apex of one band and the nadir of the other it
seemed a good way to kiss both of them. also it makes us feel drunk and excited and we admire that song to no end.

I read that your second album has a release date set for February 2003, have you started writing/recording ?
do you already know how it is going to sound ?

it is done this week. it will be called "a promise" is more intensely pop, more intensely modern
classical/experimental and more intensely dance. i hope it is more depressing to go
along with all the other MORE MORE MORE MORE i have imposed upon it.

How does Xiu Xiu sound live ? are the songs altered ?

we are way more loud than most peoples home stereos. we do like to change the arrangements
a lot for music and for fun.

Iím curious about the deerhoof/xiu xiu dance project, since some songs on knife play could easily be nightclub anthems (well, in another world) have you already started working on it ? if so, how
does it sound ?

it is slowly in the works. it might be done in the year 2027. maybe later than that. you should write to
deerhoof about it too. deerhoof@hotmail.com